WordGirl Family Reunion
by Snickerdoodle8P
Summary: A mysterious meteorite shower comes down upon the outskirts of Preposterocity; an unexplained out-of-the-world force threatens the survival of Earth; and Word Girl feels she's being watched constantly, possibly exposing her identity and ending her carrer!
1. The Scientific Discovery

_A/N: "Hey, everybody, I just wanted to make this story because I felt like it, and, ya, I was bored. This is my first fan fic, just to warn you, so no flames, please. If there is anything wrong with anything, such as the characters or other things, please let me know and I'll be happy to make the corrections. I do not own "WordGirl", Scholastic and Soup2Nuts do. This fanfic was made possible by PBS viewers and fan fic readers like you. Thank You!"_

_Mutual UFO Network is an actual cooperation; all rights belong to them._

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Narrator: "Psssst! Listen for the words "Fanatic" and "Anxiety".

In an observatory in Houston, Texas, a scientist works late after-hours, in an unlit room, besieged with coffee-stained paperwork, and staring into the blinding computer screen, rattling off statistics on the most potent and precise telescope that ever came across to the always-thought insignificant observatory. The man, finally finding what he was looking for, slaps the cluttered desk approvingly, adjusted his black thick square glasses back into place, and makes his way to the gargantuan telescope, or what was commonly known as "the Polaris". Sweating, the determined scientist wipes his dark red hair off his forehead with the back of his hand, proceeds over to the eyepiece, and starts adjusting the focus with the seventeen knobs on both sides of the silver beauty. From the very back of the room, a young man with black hair and long flowing bangs wearing an overcoat sauntered into the room, quietly sipping coffee from a mug and darting his eyes around the room until he finally fixed them upon the restless scientist. He wrote something on a clipboard then quickly peered into the eyehole, turned a knob slightly on the left side of the telescope, erased what he wrote before, and peered into the gigantic thing again. The young man sighed; this wasn't the first time the flame-haired scientist stayed way over working hours. It always seemed like he never wanted to go home, where it was warm and cozy, where he had a family, unlike himself.

He decided to let him know that he was there. "Tom." The red head flinched ever so slightly but did not turn around; he groaned and continued to do his business, "Tom, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be going home, where it is warm?" The scientist straightened up; this wasn't the first time he was caught by the same man, doing his work afterhours. Every time he came home well past one o'clock the next morning his wife always was there waiting for him, giving the look of bitter disappointment. There was always a fight following that, and it always ends with doors slamming, the children screaming awake, and the baby starting to cry. He'll lie on his bed, thinking what he had ever done to break away from his family this way. Then again, it was obvious wasn't it? You just love your job too much, his friend and coworker told him one day, maybe a little too much, so lay off and get time to have leisure time with your family. The scientist knew that he couldn't afford that, not when there were discoveries to be made. He turned to the man who came in, "Shouldn't you, Jared? Why aren't you home yet, huh?"

"Well, I had just locked my office door to leave when I noticed that there was a dim light coming through under your office door. I knew you were still in there, so I just came by to check that you were all right. Are you alright?" Jared now was at Tom's side, scanning him over.

"Of course I'm alright!" Tom folded his arms and looked away. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you never seemed like the observational Fanatic before you got that promotion." Jared chuckled and now examined "the Polaris". He whistled with approval and awe. "Wow. That's quite a telescope you got there." Tom straightened up and tugged on his laboratory collar smugly. "Yes, it just came in this morning. I believe I'm getting a hang of all of it's uh…"-he took a glance at all of its buttons and knobs-"accessories…" Jared made a curious look and made a go to tap the solar panel that was connected to the main adapter. "Interesting..."

"No, don't touch that! That is made up of materials that are super sensitive to the human touch." Tom pointed his finger at him in a warning way.

"All right, all right! Geez!" Jared backed off a step. "May I please look into it, though?" Tom waved his hand hastily. "Yeah, yeah, sure. Go ahead." Jared peered into the eyepiece. "Fascinating. Much better than the one over in Arizona. This one has high definition, and pinpoints and locks objects on view."

Tom grinned in a cocky way. "Yes, well…it's only the best."

"I could see Pluto from here, and Saturn, with all of its rings! And there's Calypso, one of Jupiter's moons, and Neptune, and the asteroid belt, and—" He stopped.

"What? What do you see?"

Jared slowly lifted his eye from the eyepiece. "Astonishing; A meteorite, flying across the sky, about twice the speed of a comet!"

"What? Let me see!" Tom pulled away the eyepiece handle away from Jared and took a glance into it. Indeed, there was a meteorite flying across the sky. "Amazing! We should call it Asteroitus, for it was discovered near the asteroid belt. Man, look at it g-" Tom caught himself, for the meteorite just hit an asteroid and was changing course. In fact, the meteorite was getting bigger on the scope, as if it was-

"Great Scott…"

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Tom swiftly turned a knob on both the right and left sides of the telescope and glimpsed into the thing once more. He gasped in horror. Jared was worried now. "What's happening?" Tom looked up from the scope slowly and gazed at Jared in sheer terror. "It's not a meteorite, it's something else, but, whatever it is, it seems to be heading this way. To Earth."

"What?"

"It's true." Tom hastily scurried to the computer and typed in a code. Statistics started to scroll down the screen in a rapid manner. "The coordinates match. They seem to be heading straight to Preposterocity." Jared's jaw dropped, but then he spoke, confusingly, "Wait, what do you mean 'they'?" But Tom didn't answer immediately. He raced over to "the Polaris", with Jared in hot pursuit, and toyed frantically with the knobs and switches. "Asteroitus, or that 'thing', the UFO, had broken its course by colliding into a small, but sturdy asteroid. The collision caused the asteroid to disintegrate into many chunks of space rocks. They, as I said, are heading toward Preposterocity this very second." Jared, now seeing the potential danger, was now in frenzy and sputtered, "W-w-what shall we do? This thing can cause many earthquakes and flash floods and other major destructions when it hits solid ground! Not to mention the catastrophic aftermath of the meteor shower!" Tom stood up straight, headed to his desk, and grabbed his rotary telephone as Jared started to hyperventilate in the background. He dialed a number that was unfamiliar to Jared. Calming down, he asked him, "Um…who are you calling?"

"The MUFON."

"The what?"

"Mutual UFO Network."

"You going to report this thing to the UFO investigators?"

"Of course. Who else could identify a UFO? Besides, the thing is going to crash all the way in Preposterocity. Who else would have the time to go there?" Tom suddenly appeared to be deep in thought, and all of a sudden, he grinned, a very wide evil grin. Jared became alarmed. "Uh, Tom? Earth-that-is-potentially-endangered to Tom." His deep-in-thought companion turned to him, abruptly. "…Or maybe we would have the time, and the need, to go there ourselves…"

"I don't understand…"

"Asteroitus! She's _our _discovery! We mustn't let people think that this thing was discovered by mere witnesses."

"But Tom, we _are_ witnesses."

"Not just witnesses; discoverers! What if Asteroitus is actually evidence of alien inhabitance out in the universe somewhere? We mustn't let this opportunity slip us by, the opportunity to give our always-thought unimportant observatory its rightful light in glory! Its rightful splendor and respect it always had been neglected of. Just imagine, for a sec-ok?-how you would be rewarded with the highest honors if you had finally discovered proof of extraterrestrial life forms that would not be just creatures imagined up by writers and movie directors. You would get that promotion you always wanted, to be chief executor of the Astronomy Institute for the Future Generations. You would be so famous that you would be able to find a girl to be your wedded wife, which was a benchmark long overdue. We will be in books and records for generations to come, and your future family would always remember you by 'The man who had changed modern science forever'. Wouldn't you like that?" This whole time, Jared was listening to Tom's speech with the upmost interest. Yes, he had hit the ballpark of what he had always wanted, and he thought that a little trip to Preposterocity would be nothing compared to the glories he would receive after they confirm their findings. He could just picture it now: the story of the discovery, or discoveries, for that matter, in the newspaper that would be issued across the nation, all telling tales and smothering over the idea that there is life on a different planet, all because of him…

"Alright, Tom, let's pack for Preposterocity."

Tom grinned favorably. "Excellent! But first—" he was cut off by a short bleep on the other end of the phone, and then spoke into the receiver. "Oh, hello! No, no, it was alright. Don't keep me on hold any longer though, alright? Because I—I mean, _we—_have an important breakthrough to offer… What is it? Well, I couldn't say too much about it but we _do_ know where the UFO is heading… Yes, yes, well…the site of the impact is going to be Preposterocity…"

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_Yup, my first uploaded story on FanFiction! YAY! XP Don't worry because more is coming your way very soon! (P.S. This is my first FanFic, so please, no flames!) Oh, and please R&R!_

~*Snickerdoodle8P*~


	2. Just Another Normal Day

_(Scene switches to Preposterocity, 12:00 p.m., midday, or noon, whatever...) _

Narrator: "Phew, finally got to the _good_ stuff! Anyway—ahem!—It was a typical day in our fair city—"

"Ha-ha! Take _that_, Word Girl!"

"Ha! You missed!"

Narrator: "Yup. Very typical… It was Word Girl against Tobey's giant robot army, and the two opposing teams are lined up and facing each other in their special fighting poses…"

Both hero and machine glared at one another menacingly. Tobey, at the time, was on a building roof, safe and undisturbed.

Narrator: "…And we're off! The robots make the first move."

One of Tobey's robots lifted up an arm to swing at Word Girl but she was too smart and saw it coming; she took and broke off the arm and swung it around her, severing the heads of eight other robots. Tobey looked at her in awe as she flew around, smashing and punching and kicking the other thirty robots. When he realized that she was defeating his robots in a rapid manner, he shook his head violently to snap out of his brief admiration. He had to defeat Word Girl _now _before it's too late! Mischievously, Tobey pulled out his master remote and immediately saw the big red button that said "You Better Press This Button If You Want To Defeat Word Girl Before It's Too Late!" and, when he pressed it, all the robot's eyes turned violent red and began to make a go for Word Girl. But, to his surprise and discomfort, all of Tobey's remaining robots started to malfunction, causing them all to instantly shut down. He held up his hands to his head. "Ugh, noooooo! Curse those inconceivable malfunctions!"he shouted in his British voice. Word Girl, seeing that the victory was her's, grabbed Captain Huggy Face (her sidekick), and flew up to Tobey and landed on the building top next to him, "Well, Tobey, looks like next time you should _think_ before you destroy."

"I don't understand," Tobey went on, looking at the remote and then the robot wreckage and back again. "I had checked and rechecked for any flaws before I had left the house."

"Sorry to interrupt but we _do_ need to call your mother," Word Girl said a little smugly. She pulled out her super-duper special Word Girl cell phone. Tobey gasped in horror. "No! Not Mother! _Please_!" He begged on his knees and he lost his arrogant demeanor. "Can't I just learn my lesson and walk away?" However, Word Girl was firm. "You had plenty of times to learn and walk away. I'm sorry, Tobey, but I have no choice." She made a move to press the speed dial number.

"Not unless I can help it!" Tobey declared viciously and he lunged to jump onto her to grab the cell phone, but, having super speed, Word Girl just sidestepped to the right and he missed completely. He tried to catch himself but couldn't, and he tripped and fell from the building's edge! Word Girl, filled with Anxiety, dived after him, with Huggy on her back, and scooped him up a few feet from the pavement. Tobey, dangling from his collar, was apparently annoyed. Word Girl exhaled in exasperation. "Geez, Tobey, you scared me. You made me fill with Anxiety." Huggy chirped in confusion. "Oh, well, Anxiety means to fill with worry, nervousness, or concern. Like when Tobey had fallen from that building; that event had made me fill with worry for his safety. Isn't that definition _r__ight,_ Tobey?" she added with a new wave of annoyance.

"Yes, yes, I know what Anxiety means! I'm not a half-witted fool!" Tobey shook in irritation. Word Girl put him down. "Well, you sure act like one." The boy genius, dusting himself off and adjusting his black thick glasses, contradicted that claim, "Not all the time! Remember when I had turned good? That was the day of the Young Inventor's Challenge and Friendly Competition. Oh, that was a glorious Saturday…" he slowed and fantasized over the memory. "I remember the way you looked at me when we were defining 'demonstrate' to that little girl. You even thought that I had given up my dastardly deeds permanently. I believe I had 'demonstrated' wit that day."

"Until you found out that you didn't win the competition and blew your head off and started using your entrée as a destructive-making machine," Word Girl answered flatly. She secretly rummaged through her cape and pressed the speed dial number for Tobey's mother.

"_How_ could that little scrap metal that was supposedly a kitchen utensil be better than my _remarkable robot_?"he exclaimed. "I could I lose to an_ egg slicer_?"

"It also cored apples," she replied a matter-of-factly.

"_Silence_!That matter shall never be mentioned again, do you hear?"

"Geez, well I'm not the one who brought it up in the first place, you know," retorted Word Girl, folding her arms. "And don't act like I'm the one accountable for that day's events." Tobey fumed but then tapped his fingers together mischievously. "'Accountable', eh? What about 'responsible', or 'blamed', or—ooh!—_'liable'_?"

"_Or_ I could just say that the only one that could be held _accountable_ is you, _Tobey_!" she added fiercely. "And—" she was cut off, for something had picked up by her super hearing powers. "Your ride is here," she mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" the boy inquired a little roughly.

"I said your ride is here," Word Girl repeated aloud.

"W-w-WHAT?" Aghast, Tobey started sputtering and suddenly felt very sick inside. He hated when Mother came to pick him up from one of his destructive rampages. His mother would always shadow over him, give him a very stern look, and then tug on his ear all the way to the car. The pain was always unbearable. Later, he would go immediately into the living room, sit on his usual spot on the couch, and wait for the long lecture that always follows afterwards. After that, he marches straight up to his room, slams the door, and writes up a revenge plan on scraps of paper he finds lying around his room to be- yet again- shortly defeated by Word Girl, and so on. It was the never-ending cycle of vengeance for him, an existence he never managed to dispose of. It was an existence in which he, Theodore Tobey McAllister the Third, believes is the only way to spend time with Word Girl…

Tobey has had a crush on Word Girl for the longest time. He could never get over how graceful, so beautiful, so unnaturally smart she is. The way she defines words is so fluent and incredibly done, the way her dark, glossy locks flow in the wind when she flies at the speed of sound, the way she cunningly corners bad guys and punishes them in cruel, unthinkable ways, just like the punishment he was about to face: the wrath of his mother. Composing himself, he answered as casually as he could, "W-what ride? I don't see any ride, do you?" he humorously looked about the area with his hand to his forehead to cover the radiant sunlight. Word Girl rolled her eyes. "Oh, it'll come. Believe me." And, sure enough, a small green car came up the street on which they were standing on. Inside was Mother; she seemed quite infuriated. Tobey started to hyperventilate.

"Full of Anxiety now, aren't you?" Word Girl inquired with triumph. He exclaimed, hysterically, "Me? Worried? Are you insane? Of course I'm not worried! Why would I be worried?" Just then, they heard a slam of a car door. Word Girl stifled a laugh while Tobey looked out in disbelief. "Because here comes your mother." Mrs. McAllister, a broad woman with lighter blonde hair than her son's, came down the road toward her petrified son. This wasn't the first time her son was caught in something like this, and, each and every time, she would hope that it was the last. That hope was far from fulfilled, and, each and every time, they would repeat the same routine. She was beyond the point of frustration, in fact, she seemed to be accustomed to it by now, almost expecting it. This numb, empty feeling she almost always possesses would and will never go away, as long as Tobey keeps building robots, as long as he keeps using them for destruction, as long as he yearns to be with Word Girl…

Tobey shut his eyes tightly, waiting for that ever-familiar tug on his right ear. He was used to that familiar tug so much that the pain had gotten slightly less painful, but hurts, nevertheless. Word Girl, hiccoughing from laughter behind the hand that was covering her mouth, managed to choke out, "Afternoon, Mrs. McAllister!" Mrs. McAllister took hold of Tobey's ear, pulling his ear and himself toward the car. The pain was unbearable.

"Ow, ow, ow, OW! Seriously," Tobey said to no one in particular. He was used to that: being unheard or unnoticed by others. Being one of the less popular people, Tobey doesn't have any friends, at least in his own mind. He constantly tries to earn his respect from the others by regularly trying to show that he is superior to everyone, including Word Girl; which was mainly the reason why he relentlessly tells her other synonyms of words and such. By being superior, he could have Word Girl and everyone else in the city bowing down to him and never think less of him again. But that was a long way off. For now, he had to endure yet another defeat and modify means of attack. _There just has to be a way to defeat Word Girl once and for all, but how...?..._

Tobey pondered this all the way to the car. When Mrs. McAllister slammed Tobey's door, he looked up out the window to see Word Girl smiling cockily at him, waving a hand. He glared furiously back at her; she only smiled even bigger. Tobey started to roll down the window like mad and Word Girl, who had long anticipated this moment because it was so entertaining, waited for him to shout the ever-famous—

"I'll get you yet, _Word Girl_, if it's the _last_ thing I _dooooooooooooooooooooo!"_ The car's wheels screeched as the vehicle disappeared down the road and around the corner toward Tobey's house. Word Girl chuckled to herself. "Oh, that Tobey; will he ever learn…?" Captain Huggy Face, squealing in laughter in monkey form, jumped onto his best friend's back. She looked back to him, "Looks like our job here is done, CHF," and took a triumphant pose.

Narrator: "Hey, hey, _I'm_ the one who wraps things up around here! I have only one job and I intend to keep it, thank you very much."

"Sorry," Word Girl, who had looked up at the Narrator outside of the screen, was a little taken aback.

Narrator: "Thank you—ahem—!So the city is saved from another raid of Tobey's robots, all is well, and Tobey had _'tugged his ear' _into another corner because of it."

"Nice," sarcastically said Word Girl.

Narrator: "See? Now _that's_ how it's done."

"Yeah. Sure. Hey, does anyone know what time it is?" She looked toward Huggy for help, but then looked up again when the Narrator spoke.

Narrator: "Uh…it's 2:27."

"_Two twenty-seven_? We are almost late for art class! WOOORRRRRRD UP!" and with that, they blasted though the sky as a very brilliant yellow beam.

Narrator: "And there goes our hero, zooming off toward the building which taught art, her most horrifying subject, toward the building that taught little amateur artists like Word Girl how to paint a rock—"

"_Hey_!"Word Girl yelled from off-screen.

Narrator: "He, he, he. Just doing my job."

_(Scene switches to the building that taught the unbearable art class. What fun…)_

Narrator: "Later, in art class…"

Word Girl had arrived in the classroom transformed back to her secret identity, Becky Botsford, an average ten-year-old little girl with terrible art abilities. She was currently painting on a canvas next to Bob, Captain Huggy Face as his secret identity, wearing only a diaper. Becky was wearing her usual signature outfit, a maroon skirt and headband, a green sweater, and high stockings. She turned to Bob, "Hey, Bob? Does this look like a tree to you?" Bob, smiling, turned to her painting, but his smile soon turned into a frown as he tried to make out the tree in the big blob taking up the entire canvas. He turned the canvas sideways, then upside-down as he scratched his head in confusion.

"You could've just said no-as usual," Becky added, a little crestfallen. Just then, the art teacher, Ms. Champlain, started to speak in her usual slow pace, "Class, put your paintbrushes down so that we may observe the beautiful view outside." Everyone did as they were told and turned toward the window. Outside, there was a serene view of the beautiful blue sky with white clouds leisurely floating past; the peaceful dappled green forest blending in behind the tall skyscrapers, the works of a masterpiece, while the afternoon sun shined from behind through it all. Silhouettes of some birds fluttered past the scene, giving the scene life and a nature-feeling thing. "Now, class, close your eyes and take a deep soothing breath," Ms. Champlain continued, and everyone obeyed without any resentment, but knowing what she was about to say next. "That, is the—"

"—smell of art," the class stated at the same time as Ms. Champlain; they knew all their teacher's versions of saying that everything had a sense of art in it.

"Oh really? I thought it smelled more like a fresh spring afternoon with a mixed smell of marigolds speckled with dew," Violet said with a pinch of concern. She is Becky's art and poem-lover best friend. Her usual far-off look was dazing out of the window, but it appeared as if she was seeing something else that nobody else could see. As much as Becky likes her, she never understood Violet's strange mind of colors and seeing things as something more besides of what they actually are. It's because of this peculiar sense that makes her Ms. Champlain's favorite student. Ms. Champlain smiled at Violet. "That _is_ the smell of art. The 'smell' is different for everyone." Becky looked back at the view. She scrunched up her nose, "It smells like city pollution to me." The teacher turned her head and looked at Becky in an unhappy way. "Like I said," she restated slightly troubled, "the smell is different for everyone."

The rest of the period consisted of the class learning a new type of art: abstract. Abstract is, as Ms. Champlain explained, when artistic content depends on internal form rather than clear representation. This must be the hardest type of art for Becky. What? Internal form? What's that? Becky did not understand, and out of confusion and bewilderment she pitifully watched everyone else as they began to refill their plates with paint to begin on their soon-would-be masterpiece.

"Oh my gosh," Becky exclaimed to her monkey friend, "there's no way I could do this. I mean, _internal form_? What does _that_ mean?" Bob chirped and shrugged at her. Becky peered over her left shoulder and found Violet already a little more than halfway done on her abstract painting. She squinted, then tilted her head to a side, then lifted an eyebrow at her friend's painting. Violet saw her looking and smiled sweetly at her best friend. "It's a young girl in a meadow with dandelions and violets and tulips and all types of flowers of different shades of colors around her, and when I'm done, I'm going to add in some clouds and sun rays reflecting off of everything." Smiling, she asked, "How's your painting coming along, Becky?"

"Oh! Um…It's going along fine! There's just sooo much to paint in such a short time," Becky flustered as she awkwardly tried to cover her still blank canvas. Yet Violet's smile never wavered. "Oh ok, but you better hurry. Class is almost over." Sure enough, there was only thirty minutes left of class, according to the big clock on the wall. _I better hustle_, Becky thought with Anxiety.

The clock seemed to tick louder and louder as the session went on. At last, Ms. Champlain addressed to the class, "Time's up class! If you did not finish your painting then it is to be assigned as homework. It will be due next art class." Becky gasped at Bob, "Next art class? That's next Saturday! That doesn't give me enough time to think up something to paint." Bob chirped reassuringly. "No I don't have time to do it at school during recess because we have to fight crime during that time!" He chirped, suggestively. "I barely have time afterschool either; crime to fight, remember?" Becky slumped in her chair and Bob chirped with sympathy and worry, patting his friend's back.

_(Scene switches to a sidewalk on the way to Becky and Violet's neighborhood…)_

Narrator: "Like I'm _about_ to say... Ahem, later Becky, Bob, and Violet were strolling up the sidewalk toward Becky's house to drop her and Bob off…"

Violet was chattering on and on about her plans for her painting to Becky, who was not paying any attention to her—not that Violet noticed. "…And then I'm going to add clouds and sun rays and, oh, and I'm going to add all kinds of butterflies! What are you doing with _your_ painting, Becky?"

"…So, when Ms. Champlain said internal form, she must have meant something…that represents something…other than itself!"

"Becky?"

Becky jerked out of her thoughts. "Huh? What?"

"I was just wondering what you are doing with your painting."

"Oh! Uh…" Becky pondered that for a bit. What _was_ she going to do with her painting? Well, she _did_ have 'til next Saturday to come up with something. That was a whole week from now, whole week to ponder about this! Maybe, she could put it off for just a few days…?

"Um, actually, Violet, I really have no idea what to paint yet."

Violet gasped. "But, all this time I thought you already started on your painting!" Becky frowned at herself and held on to her arm in guilt. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just that, I really don't get the whole 'internal form' thing." Violet nodded in comprehension. "Oh…I see. It's easy. Think of it as language arts. You just have to use a symbol or two of some sort to represent something else, like…Word Girl." (Becky slightly jerked in surprise at the mention of Word Girl's name- her secret identity.) "If you paint her in front of a star with bright, epic colors, then people would get the sensation that Word Girl must be a symbol of justice."

"Hmm…"

"Did that help?" Violet asked, earnestly.

"Yes, it did. That's kind of what I thought. Thank you, Violet."

Violet beamed. "No problem, Becky! Do you have an idea of what you may paint?" Her best friend shook her head, but was slightly more assured. "Not yet. I still have a week until we have to turn it in anyway." Violet frowned. "Okay…but don't leave it 'til the last minute," she warned, but Becky waved it off. "Don't worry, of _course_ I won't leave it 'till the last minute." But Violet's expression remained creased into a frown. However, Becky was having her doubts at the moment. What if she didn't think of something to paint to turn in by next Saturday? What would she do then? Was she doomed to fail art class, the would-be-first class that she ever flunked in her entire life? What would her parents say? What would Ms. Champlain and all the kids in the class think of her? Rumors would surely spread, and so what would everyone in the whole school think? Her reputation would be ruined and she would never be able to face school again, and what then?

_No!_ Becky thought. _That will never happen to me. I just need to think this over during dinner tonight, yes, that's what I need to do. Also, I have all week to ponder over this. Seven whole days… _This relaxed her. She had plenty of time. There was no reason whatsoever to worry over this…yet. Becky looked up toward the sky. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear and there was barely a cloud in the sky. _Yes, a whole week to ponder about this… A whole week…. _

_

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Chapter 3 coming, so hang on! XD And please R&R! (Oh, and if anything is wrong with the characters' personalities in any way, please tell me and I'll try to make corrections! ^^

~*Snickerdoodle8P*~


	3. A Searching Family

_(Scene switches to not-too-distant space, about 48 hours earlier…)_

A space pod rocketed though space at high speed, dodging any space rock that comes in its path. The pod had been traveling to this planet for about seven months and, finally, the travel was going to be paid off. The pod tears though the atmosphere and hurtles into the surface of the dunes, exploding into a brilliant cylinder of swirling dust. It could have been compared to an atomic bomb. When the dust storm finally settled down, the pod's mainframe then automatically uploaded the operation to unlock the main gateway that robotically unleashed the droid concealed inside. Finally released, the droid, with its spidery legs, crawled out of the space pod and onto the foreign soil of the planet Mars. The droid's head rotated around slowly ninety degrees to the left and then to the right, its one eye taking in every detail it could. Its vision was not very clear, for it was all in black-and-white and had too much static interfering, and the lens were always trying to focus, zooming in and out repeatedly at the worst of times. When the lens stopped focusing about six minutes later, the droid, number RC-546B, settled on some red rocky sand dunes ahead and took its first step on its journey, now and then taking pictures around it, whatever would make the scientists back home on Earth happy.

_(Scene switches to some red rocky sand dunes on Mars…)_

Up ahead in some red rocky sand dunes, in the midst of the sand-filled atmosphere, lies a spaceship. Its armor a radiant red, sleek and shining, a beaming yellow star that was made up of five triangles on the top front, it was the jewel of all the other spacecrafts in the universe. Inside of the beauty, there live the owners.

There are four of them: a father, a mother, the older brother, and the little sister. The father, also the head chief of the spacecraft, had graying hair and a grayish-black mustache, and wore a royal blue space suit that consisted of dark blue boots and gloves, a light blue belt that was actually a communicator device, and a light blue five-pointed star logo stitched on the chest. On his head was a royal blue helmet, a very stylish accessory worn back at home. He had the most optimistic influence on the family. The mother, the kindest and the most understanding of the family, had shoulder length reddish brown hair that curled at the ends, and also wore a space suit but it was orange with golden yellow accessories and wore an orange helmet. The fifteen-year-old brother, with tan hair and skin tone, just like the rest of the family, was very rough and had a pinch of arrogance in his self-esteem ever since he was made co-captain of the spaceship. He wore a green suit and helmet with dark green gloves, boots, etc. Now, the younger sister, who was merely ten-years-old, was tamer, but could get really snappy once her temper is triggered. Her suit was a violet color, with purple gloves and boots and purple communicator belt, and a purple star logo on her chest. Her helmet was a vivid violet. She had brown hair, with a touch of red in it, which rested on her shoulders and curled at the ends just like her mother's. She had bangs that covered across her forehead, except for the triangle shaped cut in the smack middle.

The family's current behavior was dim and low energized. The fifteen-year-old son was leaning backward in the driver's seat with his feet over the dashboard and his arms behind his head, taking a nap; the mother was sewing up a hole on one of the family's outfits in the center of the room, the ten-year-old daughter was on her belly with her legs crossed in the air, tinkering with a spinning top toy in the right corner, and the father was scanning over a map of the universe on a table to the left of the mother. The daughter, tired of the never-ending silence, finally put down the toy and spoke up. "Mom, I'm bored. Can't I go outside?" Not looking up, the mother responded, "No, Lexi, dear, it's too dangerous. Perhaps tomorrow, when the dust storm dies down a notch." The father, half-listening to the sudden conversation, now looks up from his map and joins in, "And speaking of which, isn't your brother Lexus supposed to keep watch today?" He looks over to Lexus, currently asleep. "Lexus. Lexus? Lexus!" At the sound of his name, Lexus suddenly jerks up and awake, his feet hitting the dashboard and almost toppling over the chair. "What, what? What's happening?" Chuckling, the father calmly answers, "Oh, nothing at all, son, just making sure that you're not _asleep_ on the job! Ha, ha!"

"_A-gain_!" Lexi intervenes. Lexus suddenly turned toward his sister. "Why don't you just be quiet for once in your life?" His sister stuck out her tongue, and so did Lexus.

"Oh, kids, why don't you just get _along_ for once in your lives? Eh?" Their father said teasingly and then chuckled. "Did you get it? Get _along_ for once in your lives? Oh…that was good!"

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, Dad," his children dismissed the joke.

"Well now that we are all up and spirited, let's all play hide-and-seek!" the mother suggested out-of-the-blue. "Now who's going to seek first?"

"Oh, me, me, me, me, me!" the father waved his hand in the air and the mother laughed playfully, and even the two siblings couldn't resist but to smile genuinely. Suddenly, a red light started to flicker on and off on the dashboard, letting of a little beeping noise every time it blinked, and startled the family. The brother, in the driver's seat, swiftly rolled over to the dashboard, entered a code into the keyboard on the board, and watched intently as the gargantuan window shield, viewing over the sandy land, abruptly turned into a computer screen, showing different areas around the spacecraft. There were cameras around the ship to record and report whatever is happening around the area, about eight of them in all. The computer automatically zoomed into one of the cameras, camera number four, which viewed the top of the ship and zooms in about two-hundred feet at maximum. When the camera focused, it revealed a small droid crawling its way toward the spaceship, not seeming to know that they were there, but had the full desire to stay going straight toward them anyway. The mother frowned, the father just stared pointblank, and Lexi, staring into the screen, dropped her jaw. _Oh, not again,_ she thought. _We already had to endure this on Venus!_

"Uh…_Dad_?" Lexus said without looking away from the droid on the screen. His face appeared to be filled with Anxiety.

"Not to worry, everyone!" the father declared without a trace of worry, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. "We were going to leave this place anyway, so start up the engines, Lexus, before the droid sees us!" Lexus got to work immediately, and Lexi held on to her mother, not too desperately, but firmly. After starting up the engines, Lexus took the wheel and lifted the spaceship slowly off the ground, the hot air blowing outside the ship puffing up dust and sand. Meanwhile, the droid catches the disturbance in the area, but being a droid and having only one purpose in life, which was to take pretty pictures of this planet, it ignores it completely. The spaceship, now hovering over the land and fully heated up and ready to go, Lexus switches gears to drive mode and turns the ship around, punches a few buttons on the control panel, and blasts off out of the planet's atmosphere. All the droid could see in this whole time was a big dust cloud and more static as the lens tried to refocus once more.

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_Chapter 4, coming your way soon. Oh, and btw, I won't upload any chapters until I get 4 more reviews (because I like getting reviews)! Muah-ha-ha-ha! So, please, R&R! 8D _

~*Snickerdoodle8P*~


	4. Sunday Morning

_Hey, guys! I'mma back (finally)! XD This chapter is dedicated to Randomnessgirl1 for her birthday. Happy late 13th birthday, pal! XD_

~*Snickerdoodle8P*~

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_(Scene switches back to Preposterocity in Becky's bedroom, Sunday morning, 9:00 a.m….)_

Narrator: "Seriously, that's getting pretty annoying. I do all the narrating here! Anyway, ahem, Sunday morning in the Botsford household…"

Becky woke up to the sound of birds chirping cheerfully outside her bedroom window. She opened an eyelid and the first thing she saw was the furry lump over the side of the bed that was snoring away on his little bed that would have been fit for a dog. Becky rolled over to sit up and stretch out her arms. Yesterday during dinner, she did a lot of thinking over what she should paint, and later thought sleepily that she would try again in the morning. Today, she wanted to go outside and think over it, thinking that she would get more ideas when she's out in the fresh air.

Becky got out of bed and went to the closet to retrieve one of her many signature outfits. Then she took the clean clothes to the bathroom to take a shower, shaking Bob awake on the way out. Of course, none of this takes very long when you have super speed.

Before long, she was climbing down the stairs that leads to the kitchen and living room, with Bob trudging sleepily behind, his nightcap still in place. On the way down, she smelled the scent of eggs and bacon cooking on the stove, and something else…pancakes? Suddenly, Becky heard the sound of laughter and early morning chatter coming out of there. She also heard that the news channel was on and giving early reports. She finally reached the foot of the stairs and entered the kitchen. TJ, her little brother and President of the International Word Girl Fan Club, was already eating at the kitchen counter. Tim Botsford, her father, was helping her mother, Sally Botsford, set the table for her and her pet monkey; none of them was aware of Becky's secret identity.

"Good _morning_, Becky!" Mrs. Botsford cried out to her in her usual cheerful manner as she sat down to eat.

"'Morning Mom," came the answer as Becky sat down to eat.

"Hey, Mom?" TJ started in a rush right after Becky settled into her seat. "Is it okay if I go to Johnson's house after breakfast?"

"Now why do you want to go there so badly?" Mrs. Botsford inquired.

"Because me and Johnson are going to plan out our next meeting for the IWGFC," TJ stated, excited. His parents stared at him in confusion. "You know, the International Word Girl Fan Club."

"Ugh." Becky groaned.

"What is it, Becky?" asked Mr. Botsford.

"TJ, it's not '_me_ and Johnson', it's 'Johnson and _I_'." Becky corrected, but TJ was only annoyed. "Ha, look who's trying to act like Word Girl. Get a load of yourself, sis." Becky rolled her eyes.

"So…could I, Mom?" TJ asked eagerly once again.

"TJ, today is Sunday, which is chore day. You can play with your friend another day."

"But, Mom," started TJ. Mr. Botsford, who wasn't really involved in the main conversation, now spoke, "TJ, mind your mother."

"Fine," grumbled TJ, stabbing his pancakes with his fork.

Suddenly, yelling could be heard from the TV and all heads turned toward it as the breaking newswoman appeared on the screen. "I'm Vanessa of the breaking news reporting here from downtown Preposterocity. This morning there seems to be uproar as people are terrified of a supposed meteor shower heading to our fair city. Here's the head chief of the MUFON. Sir, what do you think of this predicament?" She positioned her microphone right in front of the man's face.

Without looking away from the TV, TJ asked, "Hey, Dad, what does MUFON mean?" Mr. Botsford looked at his son briefly. "The MUFON is an UFO investigator network."

"Huh?"

Becky sighed, exasperated. "It means that when people think they see something funny or out of place in the sky, they alert the MUFON so that they could come and identify what the object or illusion was."

"Oh," TJ said and quickly turned his attention back toward the screen, immersed into it. The chief of the MUFON was short, bald, and had a thick brown mustache. While he talked, his mustache bobbled up and down, and he seemed to have a slight Southern accent in his speech. "Well, miss, we were alerted by a fine fellow from Houston, Texas about this event and that it was gonna be BIG, ma'am, and, well, we couldn't resist such a tempting investigation."

Becky rolled her eyes in annoyance. "He used miss and ma'am in the same sentence. That's redundant."

"Becky!" TJ spoke in irritation. "Who. Cares?"

"Shush!" said Mrs. Botsford without even a glance at the quarrelling pair. Mr. Botsford, too engrossed in the television to even notice the tiff taking place, said nothing.

Back at the scene, Vanessa took back the microphone and continued her report. "The MUFON investigators and our local policemen are currently trying to calm the citizens down and to back them away from the site and into their homes where it is safer. Local officials are also attempting on contacting our beloved local hero, Word Girl, to also help inspect the site of the impact-to-be. Oh where, oh where is Word Girl?" Suddenly, the newscaster back at the studio interrupted the report, "And now a report on why kittens in a tutu on a unicycle is soooo cute."

At this time, Becky saw her chance to escape and started wolfing down her food. Mr. Botsford, finally tearing his gaze from the screen, glanced up curiously at her. "What's the big hurry, Becky?" he asked, surprised. She did not look up until she was half done with her eggs and pancakes—being already done with her bacon. "I want to be at the park early today so that I may get some ideas for my painting for art class." Mr. Botsford smiled. Becky seems to do so many extracurricular activities for school or whatever, and she always worked on them somewhere else—not that it bothered him, though. He was glad she was getting so involved in school, so, as a result, he answered, "Go ahead, honey, go and have fun."

"What?" TJ exclaimed, aggravated. "Why does Becky get to go somewhere and _I_ have to be stuck here doing chores?"

"Because, TJ, Becky is doing something for school—like homework," Mr. Botsford half-scolded TJ.

"And isn't something just for fun," continued Mrs. Botsford.

TJ grumbled something unintelligible.

By this time, Becky was finished with her breakfast. "Thanks, Dad!" she quickly stated, grabbed her pet monkey, Bob, by the wrist—who was about to take a bite of bacon—and was out the door in a flash. Everything was quiet.

"Aww," TJ complained suddenly, "that means _I_ have to do the dishes too!"

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_Ooh...the excitement and mystery has just gotten thicker! There are lots of discoveries to be made. What is going to happen next? _

_Well, you're just going to have to wait and find out! XD Oh, and please review—I LOVE getting those! (It gives me motivation and I feel loved...^^)_

_'Till next time and beyond!_

~*Snickerdoodle8P*~


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